1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user confirmation system and method for utilizing recording media as tickets or the like used by an indefinite number of many people, such as train tickets and admission tickets, thereby automatically confirming owners of the tickets or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regarding a recording medium issued to a particular individual, intended for use for a long period of time, such as a credit card for managing information on credibility of an individual and an ID card for identifying an employee and managing arrival at and departure from an office, it is important to authenticate an owner of a recording medium.
Conventionally, an owner has been confirmed by letting a user input a previously registered personal identification number or visually confirmed by a third party at a time of use of a recording medium by taking a face picture of an owner and attaching it to an ID card at a time of issuance thereof.
Furthermore, JP 5 (1993)-233783 A and JP 5 (1993)-35935 A disclose a method for identifying a user with an owner by taking a face picture of a user at a time of use and applying a picture recognition technique. Furthermore, JP 10 (1998)-154248 A discloses, regarding a train ticket, a method for specifying a track section of unauthorized use, in which when unauthorized use is found based on data stored in a train ticket, face picture data captured at a time of entrance is matched with that at a time of exit.
However, according to the above-mentioned recording medium, it takes a considerable period of time to register owner identity information for identifying an owner. Therefore, such a recording medium is not effective for tickets issued in a large number to an indefinite number of many people, such as a train ticket used for utilizing a railroad and a pass for an expressway.
More specifically, regarding tickets issued in a large number to an indefinite number of many people, there is no time for registering owner identity information, and actual management is difficult, so that the above-mentioned recording medium cannot be used. Furthermore, at a time of use, it is required for a user to input a personal identification number, and for a third party to compare a picture with a user. This requires a long period of time and personal resources, which is not economical in actual management, and therefore, use of the above-mentioned recording medium cannot be realized.
The above-mentioned methods disclosed by JP 5 (1993)-233783 A and JP 5 (1993)-35935 A overcome the above-mentioned problems by automating processing. However, a face picture is taken at a time of issuance of an ID card; therefore, a recognition rate is decreased due to the difference in appearance and the like between the time of registration and the time of use caused by changes over time, resulting in increased misrecognition.
Furthermore, according to the method disclosed by JP 10 (1998)-154248 A, an owner of a train ticket is not confirmed. Therefore, it is impossible to prevent unauthorized use, such as use of one train pass by a plurality of people and unauthorized train-taking such as getting-on with an entrance ticket and getting-off with an entrance ticket of another station prepared by a cooperator.